


What happens at boarding school, doesn't stay at boarding school

by Book_lyfe



Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz, Dear Evan Hansen - Pasek & Paul/Levenson
Genre: Boarding School, Cheating, Cute, F/F, Fluff, Give ideas AHH, I also wrote out a whole outline for this, I came up with this idea in the shower, I dunno what to do for my title??, I'm original, M/M, Oops, Slow Burn, Therapy, Tree Bros, ahhhhhhh, also, bit of angst, but that's cause every writer does that, but they're still pretty similar to their OG character, but with Michael and not jeremy, dunno if i'm doing it right, even if they don't notice they do, it just happens, probably a bit OOC, step bros au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-26
Updated: 2018-09-05
Packaged: 2019-04-28 08:49:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 10,775
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14445699
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Book_lyfe/pseuds/Book_lyfe
Summary: Heidi marries Michael's mom, and Evan ends up going to boarding school with Michael. There, Evan meets his roommate, Connor Murphy.What's a summary? lol. If y'all have a better one, notify me.In other words, the AU no one wanted





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to the prologue, learn the basics of this story.

Evan was seven years old when his dad walked out of his life after his parents got a divorce. For years he wondered why his dad didn't want to stay with them. He understood that his parents didn’t love each other anymore. His mom said that she liked girls more, and just came to terms with that. He didn’t understand why she never knew that before. He also didn’t understand why that angered his dad so much, he liked girls too, so why can’t his mom like girls?

Evan was upset about his dad leaving, but he did get along better with his mom, so he’s glad she didn’t leave. Even so, not seeing his dad every day hurt him. He felt as if his dad left because Evan wasn’t good enough. His mom constantly told him that that wasn’t the case, but there was always lingering doubt.

When Evan was twelve, his mom introduced him to her girlfriend, Jane Mell, and her son Michael Mell. Evan and Michael got on fairly well. Sure, when Michael started smoking, Evan always declined, and Michael actually did his best to smoke while Evan wasn’t around too. They played video games a lot, and Evan even met Michael’s best friend from his boarding school, Jeremy Heere. 

When Evan was fifteen and nearing the end of his sophomore year, Jane and Heidi got married. It was during his spring break, which had lined up with Michael’s spring break. Evan had been Heidi’s best man of sorts, while Michael was Jane’s. The wedding wasn’t too long, and it was only 65 degrees out, so it was very nice and refreshing. The reception lasted hours, and by the end of it Evan, Michael, and Jeremy were passed out on top of each other. Of course, Jeremy was invited, and that’s where Michael first kissed Jeremy, to which Evan watched as Jeremy’s face burned and he started sputtering and stumbling over his words. Evan smiled to himself as Michael laughed, and wrapped his arm around the skinnier boy. Evan had always had a feeling they would get together eventually, and he felt a little awkward witnessing it, but he was also glad.

The first few weeks of summer, while the boys’ moms were on their honeymoon, Michael’s grandmother helped the two boys move Evan and Heidi’s packed boxes to Michael’s house. Grandma Mell unpacked all of Heidi’s things, while Michael helped Evan unpack all of Evan’s things. It took some time to set up the bedpost and bring the mattress inside, but after that it was simple. Evan had three posters, a tree poster that showed the common types of trees in America. The other two were marvel posters, one Spiderman and one Iron Man. Evan had a small crush on Peter Parker, Michael told him that him and Jeremy did too. Then, Evan set his family of succulents up on his window sills. He’d always liked plants, and having little succulents, and a bonsai tree on his desk, to take care of, calmed him in a way most things couldn’t. His desk sat on the wall to the right of the door. Once everything was set up, Michael dragged Evan to the basement, and they began battling each other in Mario Kart.

For most of the time that their moms were on their honeymoon, Evan and Michael were holed up in the basement with Jeremy occasionally coming over. Most of Michael’s other friends lived in other states, as he went to boarding school. However, Evan knew that two of them lived closed by, from what Michael said, but they were both traveling for most of the summer, so Evan never met them. 

Once Jane and Heidi had come home, they forced their boys to go out more. So, the boys would go off to the arcade to play games instead. Michael also showed Evan around the town as Evan had moved from about half an hour away. Evan particularly liked the ice cream shop, A La Mode. He also really liked the arcade, as it had pac man, and he was, for some reason, amazing at pac man. Michael prefered the shooting and racing games. 

Near the middle of July, Evan was given the choice of going to the local high school or to go with Michael to his boarding school. Figuring that going to a school that he already knew two people at, verses going to a school that he knew no one at, would give him a little less anxiety, he choose to go to the boarding school. The money wasn’t much of a problem as Michael’s mom was a brain surgeon, and really good at her job. Also, the boarding school was only an hour and a half from where they lived, so it wasn’t to far. 

Even though his anxiety spiked at the thought of leaving during the school year, he was also pretty excited. He knew that this was out of his comfort zone, but hopefully going to this school would help with his anxiety. Even if it only helped a little, he’d be grateful. He also knew that public school would not help at all. Plus, Michael would be there to help. Michael had anxiety just like Evan did, and even though it was on a lesser scale than Evan’s is, he still knew how to help, and Evan was extremely grateful for that.

So, once August rolled around, Michael and Evan began to pack up their items. Their boarding school didn’t have uniforms, which was a relief to Evan and Michael. Both boys felt as if uniforms were to confining, and Michael really liked expressing his personality through everything he does and wears. Evan just liked blending in, but looking like everyone else. 

One August 15th, both boys put their bags into the trunk of Jane’s car. Their moms got into the front seat, and the two sixteen year olds slipped into the back seat. Evan and Michael both slept on the way up to the school, as neither of them slept the night before. Michael because he was excited to see his friends again, Evan because of nerves for the first day of school.

Once they got there, Jane and Heidi took a few pictures of their sleeping sons, before waking them up for Michael to show Evan around the school.


	2. Chapter One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Evan is introduced to Michael's friends. 
> 
> He also gets nervous about meeting Connor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually can't believe I'm updating so soon. Can I do this with my other works? Lol nope.

“Here, we’ll put your stuff into my dorm while show you around. Then we can get your dorm assignment afterward,” Michael says, as he leads Evan up a set of stairs and down a hall to Michael’s room. They stop in the middle of the hall, and Michael takes out a key from his backpack and unlocks the door. When they step inside the room, Evan sees Jeremy sitting on his own bed, looking down at his phone. When the door shuts, Jeremy looks up and smiles. 

“Hey, Micha, Evan, how are you guys?” He asks, jumping off his bed and going to hug Michael.

“Doing good, Jer. I was gonna show Ev around the school, and see if we could find any of the others. Wanna come along?” Michael asks, placing his bags on his bed, Evan placing his near the closet.

“After we set up your stuff, last year you didn’t do it until nearly midnight.”

Michael rolls his eyes, but unable to say no to his boyfriend, he agrees and opens up his bags.

Evan and Jeremy begin to help Michael unpack all of his stuff. Evan takes the task of putting all of Michael’s clothes into his dresser, shirts being hung up in the closet. Jeremy sets up Michael’s figurines and posters on the walls and his desk. Michael takes out his sheets and pillows and sets his bed up. Evan’s fairly sure that that’s just for show as Michael and Jeremy will probably be sharing a bed most of the time.

After about forty-five minutes, Michael’s now empty bags are stashed under his bed, and the three boys are now leaving the small dorm room. The three juniors walk down the hall, back to the staircase, and make their way to the bottom floor. They leave the boys dorm building and make their way to the main building to get Evan’s schedule and dorm room. While in the office, the three boys bump into two girls who were about to leave the building.

“Jeremy, Michael, how are you?” The tan-skinned brunette asks.

“Doing great So, how was Paris?” Michael asks, wrapping an arm around Jeremy.

“Beautiful, the Eiffel tower was amazing. Although, the only time Connor actually seemed happy was at the Louvre.” Zoe shrugs as if that’s a normal occurrence. 

_ Shouldn’t most people be happy in Paris?  _ Evan thinks, wondering who Connor is. Although, he’s not sure he’d be entirely happy in Paris, at least not every day.

“Thanks, fucking awesome,” Michael states, turning to the dark-skinned girl with her hair braided in.

“You were in New York, right Alana?” Jeremy asks.

“Yeah, I was doing a leadership programme at NYCU. I was amazing, I got to share a room with a girl from Dublin.” Alana glances at each of the boys, her eyes settling on Evan. “Oh! Who are you? I don’t think we’ve met yet.”

“Oh, I, no, we, uh.” Evan stumbles over his words, caught off guard by being spoken to after not expecting it.

“He’s my step-brother, Evan. I told you about how my mom got married, right?”

“Oh! Yes, of course, you did. I didn’t know he’d be coming here with you,” Alana says, directing her attention to Michael, then turning back to Evan. “I’m Alana Beck, and this is my girlfriend, Zoe Murphy, It’s nice to meet you.” Alana holds out a hand for Evan to shake, a large smile covering her face. Evan takes her hand nervously, smiling shyly back at him.

“Hey, is it Miss. Sawyer in there, or is it Mr. Jefferson?” Michael asks once Alana drops Evan’s hand.

“Sawyer, you’re in the clear,” Zoe says, rolling her eyes. “Anyways, Alana and I are gonna unpack, we just had to stop here to grab Alana’s new schedule, she rearranged a few of her classes. See ya later boys!” The two girls wave as they leave the building, holding hands, and making their way to the girls' dorm.

Michael chuckles and leads the other two boys into the office.

“Hey, Miss. Sawyer!” Michael says, a smile on his face.

“Michael Mell, how was your summer?” Miss. Sawyer asks, smiling back at Michael from behind her desk.

“Pretty good,” Michael says, then turns to Evan, “this is my step-brother, Evan Hansen. Could you give us his schedule and room assignment?”

“Of course, one moment.” Miss. Sawyer begins clicking away on her computer, and a minute later she says; “Here we are!” She hits one more button, and two pieces of paper are printed off on the printer right next to her. “There you go, you boys have a good school year now!” She hands the papers, and a key, to Evan, who smiles back at her.

“Thanks a lot, Miss. Sawyer!” Jeremy says, waving at her as the three boys leave the building.

“Alright, let’s take a look at that schedule.” Michael takes Evan’s schedule and looks it over. “We’re gonna go in order so you know the quickest way to get to each class.” Evan nods as Michael leads them to the junior block.

“Okay, so first things first, this might be called the junior block, but there might be some sophomores in your classes. You also have a class in the senior block for AP Bio,” Jeremy says, looking at the schedule that Michael is still holding.

It’s on their way to Evan’s third class, Honors US history when they bump into more of Jeremy and Michael’s friends. 

“Jeremy! Michael! How’s it going?” Asks a guy with a strip of red in his hair. He’s a little short, and he has an arm wrapped around his shoulders that belongs to a taller boy who’s dressed in jeans and a red sweatshirt.

“Going good, Rich, when’d you and Jake get here?” Michael asks.

“This morning, Kev dropped us off on his way to TSU,” Rich states, then looks at Evan, “is this your new step bro?” Michael nods. “Hey man, name’s Rich. This is my boyfriend Jake.” 

Jake waves. “Bet living with Michael is annoying with all the smoke coming from his room.”

“Hey man, I don’t smoke that much.”

Jake just laughs. “Who’s your roommate? Have you met them yet?”

“Uh, n-no.” Evan stutters.

“Let’s see who it is,” Jake says, holding out his hand to take Evan’s room assignment. Evan hands it over, and Jake quickly glances at it, his smile turning into a frown. “Shit man, you’re outta luck.”

“Wh-what?” Evan asks, nervous.

“Your roommate is a guy named Connor. We’re friends with his sister,” Jake says.

“Zoe is perfectly normal, pretty awesome actually. But her brother? Man, he’s fucked. Yells and swears for no reason, try not to anger him. I heard he sent a kid to the hospital when he was twelve.” Rich shakes his head, looking up at Evan.

“O-oh.”

“Oh, come on. He’s not that bad. Evan, you’ll be fine. Especially since you’re quiet, he shouldn’t bother you too much,” Michael reassures Evan, patting his shoulder. “Come on, we should finish showing you your classes.” Michael and Jeremy wave at Rich and Jake, and they continue their tour.

As they’re walking out of the junior block, Michael drags them over to five people sitting under a tree in the courtyard.

“Hey, look, it’s Micha and Jere!” A short black haired girl says, jumping up.

“Hey Chris,” Jeremy says smiling.

“Guys, I just wanted to introduce my new bro, Evan. Evan, these are the rest of our friends, Christine,” Michael gestures to the petite girl. “Jenna,” The girl with light blond hair, and who’s on her phone, looks up, smiles, and looks back down. “Brooke,” the only blond in the group waves. Her smile is as bright as her sweater. “Chloe,” The brunette laying in Brooke’s lap waves as well. “And Jared.” The brown-haired boy who’s wearing a star wars shirt nods at Evan.

“Did you show him around?” Brooke asks, carding her fingers through Chloe's hair.

“Yup, we’re taking him to his room right now.” Michael nods.

“Oh! Who’s your roommate?” Christine asks, sitting down next to Jenna.

“Co-connor Murph-murphy,” Evan mumbles, noticing how everyone goes quiet.

“Shit, man. That’s really unfortunate, he’s insane,” Jared says after the moment of silence.

“Jared! He’s not insane,” Christine states.

“Chris, do you not remember everything that’s been said about him?” Chloe asks.

“Those are rumors! Half of them were started by Jenna!” Christine argues.

Jenna shrugs, “Not everything was made up, ya know.”

Michael laughs, rolling his eyes, “You guys have fun with this debate of yours, but Jere and I are gonna take Evan back to our room to grab his stuff so he can go to his room. See you guys later.”

As the three boys walk off, the other five mindlessly wave as they continue their debate on whether Connor is insane or not. Not knowing what to believe, Evan is starting to get increasingly worried.

Once they had all of Evan’s stuff and were heading to his room, Michael said; “Luckily you’re on our floor. So, if you need anything, just come and knock. Or text us, whatever works.” Michael stops in front of a door that's halfway down the hall from Michael’s own room, and on the opposite side. “Here we are, Ev, take out the key to unlock it.

Evan does as he’s told, and pushes open the door. What’s hi, Michael and Jeremy are inside, they notice that half the room is already unpacked, but no one else is here. 

“Seems like Connor’s out, do you want help unpacking?” Jeremy asks. 

Evan shakes his head, just wanting to be alone for a bit. Michael nods, patting his brother on the back. “Cool, we’ll see you later then?” Michael looks questioningly at Evan, who nods in response. Jeremy and Michael smile at the dirty blond and then leave the room.

It takes Evan only fifteen minutes to unpack as he didn’t bring much. Once he’s done, and all his plants are watered, he lays back on his bed, wondering what Connor’s really like.

Five minutes later, the door opens, and Evan sits up abruptly. In walks a tall skinny boy. He was long brown haired that’s pulled back into a bun. He’s staring down at what seems to be a sketchbook, his face twisted up in concentration. He kicks the door shut with his boot, and plops down on his bed, still looking at his sketchbook. After several moments, the all black wearing boy looks up, and finally notices Evan, who had been staring at him the whole time.

“Uh, who are you?”

“Ev-evan Hansen. Your ne-new roomma-mate.”

“Hm, Connor Murphy. Don’t believe the rumors about me, half of them aren’t true and of the other half, half of those are stretched from the truth.”

“Uh, um.”

“Oh, and don’t touch my sketchbook. That’s private.” With that, Connor takes his attention off of Evan, pulls out his phone and earbuds, plugs the earbuds in, and starts listening to music.

Evan just hopes that they’ll learn to like each other eventually.   
  



	3. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Evan's first day of school. Michael and CO talk about Connor. Evan meets the school therapist.

The next morning, Evan wakes to Connor rummaging around in his dresser. He sits up, rubbing his eyes, and yawning. Connor turns, and, seeing that Evan is awake, starts to talk. 

“Oh, you’re up. Classes start in an hour and a half, breakfast closes in an hour.” And with that, Connor pulls out his sketchbook and promptly leaves the room. Evan stares at the door that Connor had just shut. 

After a short moment, he blinks and gets out of bed to get ready for the day. He dressed himself in tan khaki shorts, and a plain blue polo shirt. He quickly brushes his teeth, runs a hand through his hair, grabs his bag, and leaves the room, heading down to the breakfast hall.

He makes himself a bowl of cereal, grabs a glass of orange juice and an apple, and quickly eats his breakfast in the nearly empty hall.

Once he’s done, he clears up his space, and puts his bowl, spoon, and glass in the dirty dishes bin, and makes his way out of the hall to the building with all his classes, and walks to the back of the building where the junior block is.

\-------------------------------------------

There are eight fifty minute periods in the day. They start at eight and get out at three twenty. For the first five periods, all of Evan’s teachers explained what they would be doing throughout the year. He had second period pre-calc with Michael and Jenna, and fourth-period gym with Jeremy and Jared. Fifth period is his AP environmental science class, and Zoe and Alana are in it. His first and third period he doesn’t share with any of Michael’s friends, but they all have lunch together. Michael drags Evan to the table where all his friends are when he notices Evan heading for the library.

“Oh no you don’t, my friends really liked you from yesterday. We all want you to sit with us, come on.” Michael grabs Evan’s left arm and brings him over to his friends.

Evan gives the group of kids a small wave and wedges himself between Zoe and Michael.

Evan quietly eats his lunch as he listens to the conversation happening around him.

“Oh, guys! Apparently, my brother has a roommate this year. Dunno who it is, but I feel like I should send them a fruit basket or something for having to put up with him this year,” Zoe says, taking a bite of her sandwich.

“Uh, Zo, you’re actually sitting next to Connor’s roommate,” Michael informs her, nodding his head to Evan.

“Oh! God Evan, I’m sorry I didn’t realize.”

“N-no, it’s o-okay,” Evan stumbles out, keeping his gaze focused on the table.

“We should warn you though, there’s a reason he didn’t have a roommate before. He had one for the first semester of freshman year, but something happened, and the kid switched roommates. Connor hasn’t had one for a year and a half,” Jenna piped in.

“He’s gotten better since then. He was a lot nicer when I was at their house over the summer, right before coming here!” Alana states.

“That’s because he actually tolerates you,” Jared points out.

“Yeah, because unlike most of you, I’m nice to him, and don’t encourage the rumors. Evan will be just fine if he does that too.”

“Besides, I’ve seen a few of the fights he’s been in, and he was never the one to throw the first punch. People are scared of his reputation, not him,” Christine says,  shrugging.

“I dunno, Murphy is a pretty scary dude,” Jake says, draping an arm over Rich’s shoulders. 

After that, Evan just tunes them out. He doesn’t really want to hear all this stuff about his roommate, he’d rather not be afraid of the kid he’s sharing a room with for the school year.

During his next class, seventh period American History, he gets a pass from the office telling him to head down to room 106 at the end of the period. Which, is exactly what he does. When the bell rings, he quickly packs up his stuff, and nervously makes his way to room 106, hoping he isn’t in trouble. When he gets there, he sees that the door is open, so he silently makes his way inside the room. 

Inside he sees a desk with a computer placed upon it and behind the desk, a woman around her thirties is sitting, clicking away on her computer. There are two chairs, a loveseat, and a bean bag placed around the room.

“Uh, I was, uh, told to-to come here af-after seventh?”

The blond lady looks up and smiles warmly at Evan. “Evan Hansen, right?”

“Ye-yes ma'am.” 

“I’m the school’s therapist, Dr. Sherman, it’s very nice to meet you. Your mother requested that you have a weekly session with me, is that alright?”

Evan thinks for a moment, he never really liked going to the therapist, but having someone to talk to besides his brother, would be nice he supposes. So, he nods.

“Wonderful, please, take a seat.” Dr. Sherman gestures to the seats around the room, and Evan sits on the couch.  

For the whole of eighth period, Dr. Sherman asks Evan about how his day is going, and how he wants the year to work out. Evan talks a bit about Michael’s friends, and how he just wants to have good grades. He doesn’t want to have too much hope, just be let down. He also talks a bit about Connor, and how he’s kinda nervous to be sharing a room with him. Dr. Sherman reassures Evan that  Connor isn’t all that horrible. She knows most of the kids in school, so it kind of calms Evan’s fears. He also tries to focus more on what Christine and Alana said, rather than what everyone else said.

After the therapy session, Dr. Sherman sends him off, telling him that they will meet every Monday with the class period switching each time. Next week, he’ll be missing first period Lit.

Once Evan has left the room, the door shut behind him, he makes his way back to his room to start his homework. He also silently hopes that Connor won’t be there.


	4. Chapter Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Evan is reminded of his dad, and suddenly sent into a panic attack, remembering what his dad did when he was a child.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Physical and mental abuse. Evan is sent into a panic attack.

On the third day of school, Evan is walking to his room after he’d just finished dinner with Michael and his friends. Evan still isn’t completely sure if he could call them his friends. Sure, he’s friends Jeremy and Michael, and he seems to get along well with Christine and Alana, but he doesn’t know about the others. Jared and Rich are a bit loud and seem to make a lot of jokes, some of which are unwanted. Jake is just too confident for Evan. Jenna, Brooke, and Chloe gossip too much. Zoe’s nice, Evan just isn’t sure how much she likes him. 

As Evan opens the door to his room, and stops dead as he sees Connor pacing and yelling into his phone.

“Bullshit. If he cared he’d be the one talking to me right now!” There’s a brief pause as Connor listens to the other person on the phone. “Fuck that! That’s the excuse you use all the time. Sure he works, but I’m positive that he has enough time in his oh so busy schedule to talk to me for at least two minutes.” Another pause. “God! Okay, mom, I know he talks to Zoe. I’ve heard them talking. All he cares about is his perfect daughter, with her amazing jazz band, and her perfect grades, and her perfect friends! All he thinks about me, is that I’m a fucking screw up that’s never done a single fucking thing correctly!” There’s a brief silence, before Connor takes the phone for his ear, jabs his finger on the screen, and throws it at the wall. Evan is pretty sure the phone’s screen is severely cracked.

Connor growls, and slams his fist into the wall that his phone had just hit, denting it a bit. Evan suddenly backs against the door that he had shut at some point during Connor’s phone call, and slumps to the floor, remembering things about his dad.

_ Evan was three years old when he first saw his dad slap his mom. They had been shouting about something that his toddler mind didn’t fully understand, when there was suddenly a smacking noise, and then his mom’s face had a red handprint on it. Evan had been silently standing in the doorway, when he gasped at what his dad had done. He had always been told that hitting was bad, so why was his dad hitting? _

_ At the sound of Evan’s gasp, his mom and dad both turn towards him, eyes wide. Heidi rushed towards him, ushering out of them room. _

_ The next morning, Evan woke up to see his dad sleeping on the couch. _

_ Then, when he was four, Evan had been woken up in the middle of the night when his father had slammed the door as he came in. He hadn’t seen him all day, and decided that he’d give his dad a hug goodnight before he went back to bed. _

_ Evan had gotten out of bed, grabbed his blanket, and shuffled down the stairs to see his dad in the family room with the TV on. _

_ “Daddy? Why are you home so late?” Evan had asked, hugging his little blanket close to him. _

_ His father turned to him, eyes red. “That’s none of your damn business boy. What are you doing up so late?” His eyes had narrowed, slightly scaring the small boy. _

_ “I-I heard you walk in-inside,” Evan stuttered, not sure why his dad was so angry. _

_ “That doesn’t excuse you being out of bed, get your ass back upstairs.” _

_ Evan whimpered, nodding his head quickly before he scampered up the stairs and into his parents room where his mother was sleeping. _

_ “Mo-mommy?” He asked, shaking his mom awake. Heidi turned over in her sleep, and slowly opened her eyes to look at her son. _

_ “What is it baby, did you have a bad dream?” _

_ Evan shakes his head, “Daddy is be-being scary,” He muttered, staring down at the ground. _

_ “Did daddy wake you up when he got home?” Heidi asked. Evan nodded, hugging his blanket even tighter to his chest. _

_ “Come here honey.” Heidi reached her arms around Evan’s torso, and pulls him up onto her bed. “It’s okay honey, you can go to bed, I’ll protect you.” Evan nodded against his mother’s chest, closing his eyes and slowly drifting off to sleep. _

_ After that, Evan’s father started coming home later and later each night. And each time, Evan stayed in bed, not wanting to make his dad angry again. Sometimes his mother would be awake, and he’d hear them shouting. The shouting made him cry a lot, especially when his mom would storm back upstairs. She always tried to be quiet, but Evan knew that she was crying too. _

_ When Evan was six, his father hit him for the first time. He had been crying about a bruised knee, red faced and snotty. After his dad had told him to “man up, boy. You’re six years old, a hurt knee isn’t that bad.” Several times, he had finally gotten tired of Evan’s sobbing, and slapped him.  _

_ Evan figured then that he really should stop crying, so he sniffled a few times, wiped his nose, and stopped crying. _

_ “Good, now maybe next time you’ll stop the first time I tell you too.” _

_ Later that night, after Evan’s dad had left, he cried himself to sleep. _

_ Over the next few weeks, Evan had gotten good at not crying when he was around his dad. His dad figured he was finally ‘toughening up,’ but really, Evan just didn’t want to get hit again. _

_ When Evan was seven, and in second grade, one of his classmates had noticed the bruising on his arm and had asked about it. Evan, not knowing that being hit wasn’t normal, told him that his dad had gave them to him. When he had said this, and continued to ask where his classmate’s bruises were, said classmate looked horrified, jumped up, and ran towards the teacher. _

_ A minute later, the classmate and Evan’s teacher walked over to him.  _

_ “Thank you Danny, you can go and play with the others for now.” Danny nodded at what Ms. Smith said, and ran off towards another group of kids. _

_ “Evan,” his teacher began, “did you say that your dad gave you those bruises?” _

_ Evan nodded, “Yeah, and when I asked where Alex’s bruises were, he didn’t answer. Why did he get you Ms. Smith?” _

_ Ms. Smith’s eyes went from kind to upset in a matter of seconds. “Well, honey, that’s because he doesn’t have any bruises.” _

_ “That’s weird. Dad said that all dads hit their sons.” _

_ Ms. Smith flinches at that, and nods. “Does your mom know about the bruises?” _

_ “Yes, but dad tells her they’re from me falling and playing with friends. I guess mommies aren’t supposed to know.” _

_ “Is your mom picking you up today?” _

_ “Yes.” _

_ Ms. Smith nods again, tells Evan that they will talk more after class, and gathers the kids to bring them back inside. _

_ After school, Evan sat in his desk as his mom and his teacher talked at the front of the room. He noticed that his mom was crying, and he really wanted to do something. But he was also told to stay put until the adults were done talking, so he stayed in his chair. _

_ After what felt like ages to Evan, his mom finally stopped talking to his teacher, and lead Evan out to the car. In the car, Evan looked out the window as his mom talked on the phone, and eventually talked to him.  _

_ “Evan, honey, you’re gonna spend the night at Danny’s house, okay?” _

_ Evan nodded. He didn’t like sleepovers much, but Danny was nice to him. So, he was okay with it. _

_ The next day when Heidi picked Evan up from Danny’s house, her eyes were slightly red, but she seemed happier than she had been in months. _

_ When they had gotten home, Evan noticed that all his dad’s stuff was gone. “Mommy, wh-where’s dad’s stu-stuff?” _

_ “He took his stuff away, honey.” _

_ “Why?” _

_ “Because he decided that he didn’t want to live here anymore. But that’s okay, because now the bruises will disappear. He can’t hurt you anymore.” _

_ And, while his mother was right about the bruises going away, the fact that his father would still haunt him at night didn’t change. _

Suddenly, Evan can hear a panicked voice in front of him.

“-van, can are you okay? Can you hear me?” Evan’s not one hundred percent sure who it is, but he thinks it’s Connor. Evan nods his head slowly.

“Um, great, uh. I’m not exactly sure what to do here. Sure, I’ve had attacks before, but I don’t know how to handle someone else. Uh, what should I do. Wait, shit, that’s dumb. You probably can’t really speak right now. Um, is touch okay?” At that question, Evan shakes his head, not up for it at the moment. “Okay, um, no touch. Got it. How about breathing, can you breathe with me?” Evan nods. “Great, um, in for five, hold for three, out for five.”

Connor guides Evan through a few breathing exercises, and eventually, Connor asks if Evan is okay with touching now. This time, Evan nods, and Connor places a hand on Evan’s right shoulder. The touch is soothing, and calms Evan down much more than he anticipated. After a few more seconds of breathing, Evan slumps against the door, his face red from all the crying.

“Are you, um, are you feeling better?” Connor asks. Evan can tell he isn’t completely sure on how to approach this.

Evan just nods, but starts to feel embarrassed that he just had a panic attack in front of his roommate, whom he had hardly interacted with, and hardly knew. God, Evan is so fucking embarrassed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry if I screwed up how panic attacks work, I've never personally experienced them. I based it off of what I've read and heard from people I know. Please tell me if something isn't okay and bothers you!


	5. Chapter Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Evan and Connor talk. Kind of.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short Chapter for a follow-up on the last chapter.

“OhmygodImsosorryyouhadtodealwiththat,” Evan spits out rapidly.

“Whoa, calm down. I didn’t understand any of that,” Connor says, sitting down on his bed.

“I-I’m just sorry yo-you had to deal with th-that,” Evan repeats, twisting his hands into his shirt nervously.

“No worries. I’ve been on your side of an attack many times, they suck ass.” Connor shrugs, hunching over, but still keeping his gaze on Evan.

“I-I’m still sorry. I-it was really stupid. I fre-freaked out fo-for no reason. I-I just saw you ge-get so angry and tha-that reminded me of my da-dad. Not that yo-you’re anything li-ke my dad! No-not at all. I mean, my dad su-sucks! A lot, and I mean, yo-you don’t. So-’

“God will you stop the fucking rambling, it’s really fucking annoying.”

“Oh, I’m, uh, I’m sorry,” Evan looks away from Connor, a frown on his face.

“Jesus, no I didn’t, God, I fucking suck. When I get angry, just ignore me, it’ll happen a lot. I’m kinda an asshole, and I don’t deal well with anything. Anyways, you really don’t have to be embarrassed about that shit,” Connor says, not exactly knowing how to handle all this. “I’m the one that should be embarrassed, I caused the damn attack. You walked in when I was on the phone with my mom, didn’t you?”

Evan slowly nods, still not looking at Connor.

“Yeah, let’s just say you’re not the only one with a shitty parent. My mom was trying to convince me that my dad wanted to talk to me, and cared about me.” Connor pauses, scoffing. “But I saw right through that bullshit. If Larry actually fucking cared about me, wouldn’t he be the one telling me that? I know for a fucking fact that he talks to Zoe all the time, but apparently, he can’t make time for his only son. He just thinks I’m a fucking screw up. And honestly? Who can blame him? I suck at school, except English and French, I’ve got no friends, cause everyone is fucking terrified of me, and I smoke weed all the fucking time. Not only that, but I’m messed up in the head too. God, I hardly know you, yet I’m giving you my sad excuse of a life story. Fuck me.”

“Yo-you’re not a terr-terrible person,” Evan states, and he means it. A horrible person wouldn’t try to help someone they hardly know through a panic attack. A horrible person wouldn’t care if their dad hated them. A horrible person wouldn’t even try to make an effort to fix at least something. And so, Evan says all that to Connor. 

In response, Connor sighs. “I dunno, man. I’m a pretty suck ass person. I mean more than half the school thinks that my roommate from freshman year switched because I did something to him. What really happened though, was that his dad found out that we kissed, once when were both very high, and forced him to bunk with someone that was decidedly straight. Jokes on his dad though, I’m the only one that knows they’re now dating. Caught them making out once last year in the woods.” Connor half-grins at the memory. “Anyways, because Jason isn’t out yet, both of us just decided to go along with the damn rumor and go our separate ways.” Connor shrugs and begins to pick at his nails.

“Th-that’s really ni-nice of you.”

“Fuck, you should have seen what I almost did. I was so fucking angry when I heard why Jason was switching roommates, that I almost called up his dad to scream at him. Jason took my phone until I calmed down.”

“At-at least your he-heart was in the right place?” 

Connor laughs, “Damn Evan, I’ve needed someone like you. But I have to ask, you’re chill with me being gay and all, right? Cause if not, you can get your ass out of this dorm room.

Evan’s eyes grow wide. “I-I, of-of course! I re-really do-don’t, I-I mean, m-my mom is ma-married to Michael Me-mell’s mom! And I-I mean, I’m Bi-bisexual. So uh-”

“Relax, I get it. You’re not a homophobe. That’s all I needed to know.” Connor gets up from his bed and walks over to his dresser. He pulls out a little baggie, that Evan can’t see the contents of, but defiantly is able to assume what they are. Connor walks back to his bed, opens the baggie, and pulls out a joint. He then reaches under his pillow and pulls out a lighter. He lights the joint, places it between his mouth, and inhales. Evan watches the entire thing, not sure what to do.

“What are you lookin at, never seen someone smoke weed before?”

“No-no, I have, bu-but, it’s not really good for you?”

“Do you think I’m a fucking idiot? Of course, I know it’s not good for me, doesn’t stop me though, now does it? At least it’s better than smoking cigarettes, in most cases.

“Bu-but, it’s ba-bad for brain development, a-and it affects mem-memory and relationships and-”  
“Buddy, there aren’t any relationships I have that haven’t already been ruin.”

Evan continues to stare at the joint in Connor’s hand, and eventually, the taller boy rolls his eyes and sighs. He walks over to the window sill, snuffs out the joint, then places it in a different baggie in the same drawer. “I’ll smoke when you’re not here then, is that better?” 

“Fo-for me, yes, but no-not for you!”

“Oh fuck that, I don’t give a flying fuck,” Connor growls. “Look, can you just get out of the dorm for an hour or two? I really need to be alone.”

“Uh-” Evan hesitates. “I-I guess? I’ll just, uh, do my ho-homework at Michael’s do-dorm.”

“Just get the fuck out, I really don’t care why,” Connor shouts. Evan, not wanting to agitate Connor further, jumps up from his spot on the floor, makes sure his keys are still in his pocket, and quickly exits the room.

As Evan makes his way to Michael and Jeremy’s dorm, he thinks back to what had just happened. Sure, Connor had been yelling at his mom when Evan walked in and might have cracked his phone when he threw it, but a lot of teenagers do that, right? Maybe? Evan wasn’t sure. But even if that wasn’t normal, Connor had helped Evan through a panic attack, and he could’ve just ignored it if he was anything like what the rumors say about him. But he didn’t ignore Evan, he actually helped. And for that, Evan is very grateful. Then, Connor started smoking, and basically kicked Evan out of their dorm. Which Evan can understand. Connor had just been talking about his dad, who he did not get along with, which probably agitated him, and he just needed to calm down.

Evan thinks, or at least he hopes, that maybe a friendship can happen between the two boys. Both of them need it.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I didn't update last week, it was the weekend before finals. Also yesterday I had two parties, so here's a Very late update!


	6. Chapter Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Michael and Co drag Evan into town. Evan and Connor have a brief chat on Comics. Evan realizes he's gonna have a tough year.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me? Having a regular uploading schedule? HAHHAHHAHAHHAHA That's funny.

Evan is sleeping peacefully, dreaming about absolutely nothing, when he’s jolted awake from a pounding at his door. Evan bolts upright in bed, staring at the door, then glancing at Connor’s bed to see that he’s already left. Maybe the person knocking is Connor, and he forgot his key. 

Evan slips out of his bed, rubbing his eyes, and walking over to his door. He opens the door with a slight yawn and is shocked to see Michael and Jeremy standing there. 

Michael was wearing his signature red hoodie, with patches covering it. He also had on a pair of jeans, and his white headphone placed around his neck. Jeremy, who was standing right next to him, was wearing a plain black t-shirt and some whitewashed jeans. And all Evan could think was; why were they up at eight am on a Saturday?

“Um, wh-why are you gu-guys here?” Evan asks, squinting at the two boys.

“To tell you to get dressed, cause we’re meeting everyone in the quad, then going downtown. Jared and Brooke brought their cars this year, so let’s roll,” Michael states, leaning up against the door frame. “Oh, and you can’t duck out of this. Mom and Heidi called, and they made sure that I would get you out of your room today. Not that I wasn’t gonna do that anyway, you’re one of us now man.”

Evan groans, rubbing his face. “Fi-fine, just give me a few mi-minutes.”

“We’ll just wait out here then!” And with that, Michael reaches forwards and shuts the door.

Since Evan is a night shower person, all he has to do is get dressed, brush his teeth and hair, and put on deodorant. He does so in about ten minutes, grabs his wallet, phone, and key, and leaves his room. Once the door is shut, he glances down to see Jeremy and Michael sitting on the floor. Well, Jeremy was sitting, Michael was laying down with his head in Jeremy’s lap.

“Oh good, you’re ready.” Michael jumps up from his laying down position, then reaches down and hauls his boyfriend to his feet. Michael then continues to lead the three of them down the hall, and outside over to the middle of the quad where nearly everyone was waiting.

“Where’s Zo and Alana?” Jeremy asks as they reach the group.

“Zoe couldn’t find her purse, they’re on their way now,” Jenna supplied. Knowing that they weren’t the last ones to get there, therefore being the ones everyone was waiting for, calmed Evan down a bit. But, not all the way as he was still going downtown with Michael, Jeremy, and a bunch of people he had just met a week ago.

Once Zoe and Alana show up, the girls go with Brooke to her car, and the guys follow Jared to his. Jared has a big black suburban, that comfortably fits six people, while Brooke owns a white Jeep that comfortably fits five people, making Christine sit on top of Jenna.

The ride to town takes about five minutes, of which Evan spends listening to the boys shout at each other, telling jokes, and laughing. Evan doesn’t mind being the quiet one. He’s never really had any friends and likes being quite. Although, being quiet around other people does feel better than being quite alone. Much less lonely. Unless someone actually talks to him, that makes his much more nervous.

Once they get to the downtown area, Jared parks his car in a small parking garage, and the boys all climb out of the car. They meet the girls at the entrance of the garage, where they appeared to be planning out the day. Once Christine’s eyes land on the group of boys, she lets out a gasp and lightly slaps Brooke’s arm.

“Hey, what was that for?” Brooke asks, grabbing her arm.

“Evan’s never been downtown before! We have to show him around before we decide to do anything!” Christine says excitedly.

“Oh, no th-that’s okay,” Evan mumbles, grabbing his left arm shyly.

“Nononono! We must! Come on!” Christine waves, telling everyone to follow her. Everyone but Evan and Christine let out a slight laugh, allowing the short black haired girl to parade them around town.

True to her word, Christine shows Evan  _ all  _ around town. Evan notes that there are two different ice cream places, a frozen yogurt place, and a snow cone place. There’s one bookstore, that he wants to look at more closely, several restaurants, and many order out pizza places. In the middle of it all, there’s a huge park with a playground for little kids to play at. Behind the playground, there’s a library, and next to the playground on one side is a bakery, and the other is a sandwich shop. There’s a pet store next to one of the ice cream places, a movie theater, and a few clothing and accessory shops scattered here and there. Overall, Evan thinks that this downtown is really nice, and he wouldn’t mind spending more of his time looking around the shops. Obviously, he wouldn’t buy much of anything, as that involves talking to the cashier.

Once Christine had shown Evan around basically all of the downtown area, Rich announces that it’s nearly noon, and therefore he wants ice cream. So, the group walks back the way they came towards the ice cream place. Since Evan doesn’t want any, he tells Michael that he’s gonna go into the bookstore, and quietly slipped from the group.

Evan browsed the shelves in the store, he’s always loved the smell of new books, and makes his way over to the comic book section. Ever since he was a little kid, Evan’s enjoyed comics. His favorite’s are the Marvel comics, and he’s read nearly all of them. Right now he’s making his way through the Spiderman comics, and hopes to find one he hasn’t read yet, here. As he’s looking, he’s surprised to see Connor Murphy sitting on a window ledge, flipping through what looks like a Deadpool comic. 

Evan stops his browsing for a moment, and starts to stare at Connor. It doesn’t really register in his mind that he probably looks really creepy right now, and just continues to stare at his roomate.

Evan notes that Connor has as really long and lanky frame. His legs are very skinny, and so are his arms. His long, slightly curly, brown hair is pulled back into a bun with some hair covering his right eye. Connor is wearing nearly all black. He has a dark grey shirt on, with a light grey collared shirt over it, and his black jacket that Evan always sees him in on top of the other two shirts. His black jeans are ripped at the knees, and his tan messenger bag is resting against the wall beneath the window ledge he’s perched on.

Looking at Connor this closely, makes Evan realise how attractive Connor really is. Especially when he looks so calm, and as if he isn’t worrying about anything. 

So caught up in his staring, he hardly notices when Connor puts the comic down, glances around, and locks eyes with Evan. Connor raises an eyebrow at the blond, and Evan blushes, quickly looking away. He resumes his browsing, cheeks still pink, and is startled when he turns the corner and runs into Connor.

“Why were you staring at me just now?” Connor asks, folding his arms across his chest.

“I-uh- I’ so-sorry,” Evan says, looking anywhere but at Connor. “I just, I uh, got lost in thought. Um. I’m sorry i-if it was creepy. Cause it wa-was, wasn’t it? Ye-yeah it to-totally was,” Evan spits out, embarrassed.

“Woah, Evan, relax. I was just joking. I really don’t care that much.”

“Oh, right, yeah.”

The two stare at each other for a moment, not know what to say or do. Eventually, Connor opens his mouth and begins to speak.

“What are you doing here anyways?” He asks. 

“Oh, I um, wanted t-to see if th-they had a co-comic that I ha-haven’t read yet,” Evan said.

“You like comics?”

“Ye-yeah, I really li-like the marvel ones.”

“Damn Hansen, you’ve got good taste.”  Connor leans up against the bookshelf. And honestly, Evan doesn’t think this is fair. Connor looks really good at that angle and this close to him. Evan can’t help his blush.

“Th-thanks. I was just lo-looking for a spider-spiderman comic. Th-there are a few I ha-haven’t read. I wa-was think-thinking of getting  _ The Night Gwe-gwen-” _

“There you are! Come on man, we’ve been looking for you you. We’re gonna get some lunch,” Jared says, walking towards Connor and Evan. “Sorry we couldn’t find you sooner, hope Connor didn’t scare you to much.” Connor scowls at Jared, pushing himself off of the bookshelf. 

“Go fuck yourself, Kleinman.”

“Oh, c’mon Murphy, don’t get touchy.”

“Whatever, I’ll see you later Evan.” And with that, Connor stomps pass Evan and Jared.

“Great, now that he’s gone, let’s get lunch.” Jared grabs Evan’s wrist, dragging him out of the bookstore, and down the street to a pizza place, where everyone else was waiting. 

Throughout lunch, all Evan could think about was why no one liked Connor. He seemed like a great guy. Infact, if Evan didn’t know any better, he might say that he has a small crush on the long haired boy. But that’s impossible. Isn’t it? 

_ I mean,  _ Evan thinks,  _ he did help with my panic attack. And we might’ve had a good conversation about marvel and comics if Jared hadn’t stumbled upon them. Plus he is really pretty. Oh shit. Maybe I do like him. _ Evan’s a bit spooked by that thought. He’s only ever liked one person before, a girl in his freshman year lit class. But when he liked her, he wasn’t also sharing a room with her like he is with Connor. 

_ I am royally fucked. _

  
  



	7. Chapter Six

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 6: Short chapter of Evan talking with his therapist about everything thats happened the first week. He talks a lot about Connor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Turns out they have WiFi now! Whoop!  
> Also, sorry it's so short, this is just a filler chapter.

It was currently the first period on Evan’s second Monday at his new boarding school. He was sitting in Dr. Sherman’s office waiting while Dr. Sherman spoke to one of the councilors outside his office. Evan glance around the room, looking at the few diplomas a the couple of posters on the walls. There was a framed picture behind her desk of her sitting with a red-headed man and three children, whom Evan assumed was her family.

Evan’s head jerked to the door at the sound of it shutting, and watched as Dr. Sherman walked over to her desk and sat down.

“So, Evan, how’s your week been so far?” She asks.

“I-it’s been good My cla-classes are fi-fine, and the scho-school is really nice.”

“You like all of your teachers?”

“Yeah, they’re fi-fine. I me-mean I don’t think I-I have a favorite yet.” Evan shrugs, glancing around the room.

“That’s good. Are you making any friends?”

Even though Evan’s been hanging out with Michael and his friends, he’s not sure he should exactly call them his friends, but there is also Connor. Are they friends? Either way, Evan nods.

“Fantastic! Who are they, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“We-well, my stepbrother, Mi-Michael, introduced me to his Fri-friends, and they’re who I’ve be-been hang out wi-with. The-their names are, of course, Michael, th-then Jeremey, Christine, Bro-Brooke, Chloe, Jake, Rich, Jar-Jared, Jenna, Alana, a-and Zoe. They’re all re-really nice? I mean, they all se-seem so different, but they’re nice. Zo-Zoe is actually my roo-roommate's sister.”

“And how is your roommate. Connor Murphy, right?” 

Evan nods, and begins talking once again. He tells Dr. Sherman that, at first, he wasn’t so sure on Connor. Before he met Connor, most of Michael’s friends told him that Connor was insane, and that really freaked him out. He hadn’t even met his roomate yet, and he was already terrified of him. But then, when Alana and Christine spoke up about how he can be nice, it calmed him down a little bit. However, he was still pretty worried about living with him. Then, Evan had finally met Connor. From their first meeting, Connor definitely seemed very closed off. He didn’t say much and just told Evan a few of his boundaries. 

At that moment of his speech, Evan found he couldn’t stop talking about Connor, and he also knew he didn’t really want to stop.

He continued on about how neither of them talked to much during the week, except for a few passing words. They mainly stuck to themselves, even though Evan did want to talk, he was just too nervous to start that conversation. 

Evan continued on about how Connor did seem to get angry a lot. And usually, when he did, he seemed to be on the phone talking to his parents. Evan assumed that he didn’t have the best relationship with them, or rather his father, from how he talked with his mom. Of course, Evan couldn’t blame him. His own father was  a complete ass, and Connor must have a lot of problems with his dad if he got so angry just talking about him.

Evan finished off his long speech on Connor talking about their short conversation in the library. He didn’t mention that he realized he liked the taller, long haired boy, but he did mention that he was excited about the fact that they both liked comics. He also mentioned a conversation they had sunday night about their favorite comics.

Once Evan was finished, Dr. Sherman gave Evan a soft smile. “That’s great Evan. I’m glad that you’re getting along with your roommate. It’s important to at least tolerate the person you’ll be living with for the year.”

Evan nods along, thinking about how he wished they could do more than tolerate each other. A lot more.

“Now, is there anything else you’re excited about for the upcoming year?” Evan nods enthusiastically.

“Ye-yeah! My environmental science teacher mentioned that we-we’ll be starting a project soon. I’m a bi-bit nervous because we have to wo-work with someone. I know tw-two people in the class, but th-they’ll probably work together because they’re da-dating? And we can only wo-work with one other person. I do-don’t know who I’ll work with ye-yet, but I’m exci-excited for the project to st-start!”

“I can tell you’re a huge environmental person, right?”

“Yes. I know a lot a-about trees. It’s my fav-favorite subject.”

“It’s good that you’re so excited about something to do with school, most kids aren’t.”

Soon, the fifty minute period is over, and Evan makes his way to second period pre-calc.  After talking about Connor and Environmental Science for a whole period, he was quite happy. Although, he knows it won’t last long as Calculus isn’t exactly what he considers to be fun. Although, he does have this class with Michael, who is very good at math and always helps Evan when he can’t figure something out. Evan is extremely grateful for Michael in this situation, and knows that his step brother is probably one of the only reasons that he has made it through math every day for the past week.

\----

During lunch, Evan spots Connor out in the court yard sitting in one of the many trees around them. Evan was sitting next to Michael and Brooke, and had been watching a squirrel scurry up a tree, when he notice that the tree next to it held to large of a figure to be a squirrel or a bird. He quickly noticed it was Connor, and blushed, quickly turning away. Thankfully, the only person that noticed Evan’s red face was Christine, and Evan knew that the raven haired girl was much too nice to say anything. However, from the look that she gave him, Evan knew that Christine knew exactly why his face was red. 

_ At least it’s Christine that knows.  _ Evan thinks.  _ It could have been Jared, and then everyone would already know.  _

Evan gives Christine a small smile, thanking her for not saying anything. Christine smiles back.

Evan finally feels like he has a great set of friends.


	8. Chapter Seven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Evan starts to feel good about this school year.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, sorry this took so long! I've got three AP classes this year and journalism and I just started working. I'm busy busy busy!

For the next two weeks, Evan starts to get comfortable with all of his new friends, and the school in general. He studies with Alana on Tuesdays and Thursdays for AP Environmental Science, or APES as his teacher calls it, and pre-calc as they have the same teacher, just different periods. He likes studying with Alana, mostly because her flashcards and study guides are extremely helpful and detailed just the right amount. They always meet in the library at seven. On tuesdays, they study until seven forty five, on thursdays they go until eight. What also really helps Evan, is that if they finish early, Alana helps him with his other work as well. He’s beginning to think that Alana might be a really good college professor one day.

Evan’s also started to go to weekly frozen yogurt runs with Brooke, Chloe, and Jenna. Apparently, during their first year here, Brooke and Chloe were down town, and found Pinkberry down a small street corner, stuck between two office buildings. Evan really likes their cookie dough, but he also likes getting vanilla and topping it off with plenty of fruits. Brooke almost always gets lemon and chocolate chips, Chloe gets chocolate with strawberries and sprinkles, and Jenna likes the mint with sprinkles. Evan tried a bite of each the first time he went, and while he likes his cookie dough the most, he has to agree with Brooke’s choice of lemon with chocolate chips.

On the weekends, typically after getting yogurt with the girls, Evan goes to Michael and Jeremy’s room to play video games with all the guys. Most of the time, Evan watches, wishing Connor could be there as well, but when he plays a round, he hyper focuses on the game. If it’s a shooting game, like COD, he’s pretty good and avoiding death, but aiming and shooting is tricky for him. When they decide to play a old school game like Mario Kart, Evan typically wins. Which he finds ironic, as driving a real car terrifies him. 

On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, Evan helps out with stage crew for theater. Christine is the lead this year. She’s playing Katherine in  _ Taming of the Shrew.  _ Zoe also does stage crew when she doesn’t have band, and Evan likes working with someone he knows. 

Almost always, right before bed, Evan and Connor sit on the floor, leaning against Evan’s bed, and they read and talk about comics. They playfully argue about which comics are better, and which villains are cooler. These are some of Evan’s favorite moments. He knows that Connor can get extremely angry, especially when it comes to his family. However, when they’re sitting on the floor, and it’s just them and a bunch of comics, Evan feels like he gets to see the real Connor. The Connor that doesn’t feel like a failure all the time, the Connor that doesn’t think the world is against him. It’s just; Connor, the guy with really cute long and curly hair, who also happens to love comics just as much as Evan does.

Evan wouldn’t trade these moments for anything, and he really hopes Connor wouldn’t either. He likes seeing Connor happy, especially since it doesn’t seem to happen much.

With everything that’s going on, Evan believes that he won’t need anyone else in his life at the moment. He’s pretty content with the friends he has, even if at first, they were more people he knew. At his old school, Evan hardly talked to anyone, and always kept to himself. He ate lunch in the library, instantly went home after school, and always did his best to get his teachers to let him do group projects by himself. He hated a lot about his life last year, but now he’s starting to enjoy it. Of course, he still has his anxiety and depression, that won’t magically go away just cause he now has friends, but it is a bit easier to deal with. He even stayed up late, in a sleep filled fog, with Connor, aimlessly talking about their experiences with mental health. Neither of them really remember the conversation to much, mostly because they only had the conversation because neither could sleep and one of them said something out loud to prompt the whole conversation.

Even though Evan feels extremely content with his friends at the moment, the world decides to give him just one more friend.

On the Friday of the third week of school, Evan is sitting in his AP Environmental Class, when the teacher announces that they will be working on a group project. Evan instantly turns his head to look at Zoe and Alana, smiling a bit as he’s never done that before. His smile turns into a frown when the teacher carries on to say that the groups will only be a group of two, no more, no less. Evan turns his head back to the front, knowing that he should let the two girls stick together for this, they are dating after all.

Instead of looking around the room to try and find another partner, just like how everyone else is currently doing, Evan decides to listen to the teacher explain exactly what the project is.

“For this assignment, each group will pick a concerning Environmental issue, and research and report on it. Once you and your partner have decided that you have all the information you need on the subject, you will brainstorm ideas to help fix this problem. You will then pick whichever idea you see as the best, and create a prototype, or a presentation explaining how your idea will help your issue at hand. Alright, you have ten minutes to pick your partner and decide on what environmental issue you will be researching together. Then I’ll call on each group, you give me the issue, and once that’s finished, I’ll show you the due dates for everything. Find you partners.” The teacher nods at the class, and sits down at her desk as every student gets up from their desk, except for Evan. He decides to let his partner come to him, instead of aimlessly wandering the classroom.

To his surprise, someone does come to his desk. Evan looks up to see a tall, black haired boy standing in front of him. His skin is tan, as if he lives on the coast. He’s tall, maybe two inches taller than evan, and his eyes are the color of a coconut husk, and he has a small smile on his face.

“Hey, I’m Danny. You’re Evan, right?” Danny asks tilting his head to the right.

“Uh, yeah, yeah I’m Ev-evan,” Evan states, not completely looking Danny in the eyes.

“Awesome, I was wondering if you’d want to be partners for the project?”

“Um, uh, yeah, sure,” Evan says, shocked.

“Great, is their any topic you want to focus on? I kinda want to do deforestation, but anything is cool with me,” Danny says, his smile growing a bit as he sits down in the seat next to Evan.

“Uh, yeah! I lo-love trees, so th-that’d be great, great!”  
“Sounds good.”

“Alright class!” The teacher calls out, “Time to give me all your topics.”

The teacher goes through each group, writing down topics like; whaling, global warming, poaching, etc. Once each group has given the teacher their topic, the class is shown the project timeline. Over all, they have a month and a half to finish everything, and Evan hopes to get it done in a month, just to lessen the stress.

The bell rings quickly after the timeline is given out, and before Evan can leave, Danny taps him on the shoulder. 

“Hey, can we meet after dinner, around seven, to start on the project?” He asks.

Evan nods, “O-okay.” 

“Awesome, thanks, see you later Evan!” Danny says, jumping from his seat and leaving the class, waving goodbye to Evan on his way out.

“B-bye.” Evan says to his back. 

_ This school year is going so much better than last year.  _ Evan thinks to himself.  _ I guess boarding school isn’t so bad after all. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please join my DEH big bang! My tumblr for it is @DEHBigBang

**Author's Note:**

> Leave kudos and comment, please! Also, follow me on tumblr. @fantastic-fans and @save-the-cronch and @love-your-squip


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